Overhead door



March 2s, 1939.

c. M. GoDRlcH OVERHEAD DOOR Filed Jan. A21, 1957 FIGA;

Fuss.

FHS- 2'.'

[now/daft' (Hau/VCD M4 Patented Mar. y2.8, 1939 4 Cl. 'Ihis inventionrelates to overhead doors, one

'l5 of a doorway 2. Carriages 3 ride thesetracks and pivotally suspend adoor 4 for the doorway 2. A'plurality of laterally spaced radius rods 5pivotally connect the transverse central portion of the door 4, as at 6,to supports l on the other side so ofl the doorway from the extendingdirection of the tracks I, these supports being substantially on a levelwith the top of the door 6. t

Powered endless'ropes 8 serve to move the c'arriages 3. When thesecarriages are moved away from the doorway 2, the door 4 pivots at thepoints 6 and on the carriages 3 while the radius rods 5 v swing aboutthe supports l, the door being conwsame time centrally 55 vide the strutsequently elevated to clear the doorway. If further clearance isdesired, powered ropes 9 may be arranged to extend down through thedoorwayl 2 and connect with the door d at the points 6. In such aninstance be connected with the ropes 9 at points in line with the top ofthe door 4, whereby to keep the as ropes 9 tightly againstr the door 4when the latter closed. When the ropes 9 are used, the ropes 8 arenecessarily pulled only to start the movement of the door, power beingapplied to the ropes 9 to complete the opening operation and to draw theo door tightly to its openposition.

In the scondexample of the invention, the same parts are used exceptthat the door is provided with upwardly extending-arms da havingcounterpolses 4b on their top ends. these counter- 'a poise's serving toreduce the forces' required to raise the door to its open position.

. It is obvious that the width of the door is immaterial, it 'beingpossible to suspend the door from any number of points, the door beingat the Supported at any desired numben of points by use of the propernumber of the radiusrods 5.

In the case of very wide doors, such as aero- -plane hangar doors, itmay be desirable to pro- 4, shown in the drawing illustrating the secondexample. This strut may be in the form of a triangular structuralelement,

should extend the constant length for spring-tensioned ropes i maylwidth o! the door, and be rmly (Cl. 21T-19) "iixed to the latter'sbottom. This will'prevent any tendency of the door to warp duringopening or closing. As a further precaution the radius rods may beprovided with turnbucklesa, illustrated in the case of both examples, itthen being possible 'to individually adjust the lengths of the variousradius rods to hold the door in its proper form at all times.

' The opening motions imparted the door by the described arrangementconsists iirst in a lifting motion in a vertical direction and asubsequent swinging and lifting of the door into what is at leastapproximately a horizontal position. The initial lifting motion is ofadvantage when 'snow is banked against the outside bf the door.

I claim:

l. The combination of means adapted to travel laterally from a doorwayfor pivotally suspending a door for the same by its top and means ofpivotally connecting the cendoor pivotally to a support on said doorway,respecting the tral portion of said the opposite side of travelingdirection of jacent the level of the top of said door.

2. The combination of means adapted to travel laterally from a doorwayfor pivotally suspending 'a door for the same by its top, meansofconstant length for pivotally connecting the central portion of saiddoor pivotally to a support on the opposite side 'of said doorway,respecting the traveling direction of the first named means, adjacentthe level of the top of said door, and means for counterpoising saiddoor whenl the irst named means travels away from said doorway and thesecond named means causes said door to pivot upwardly.

3. The combination laterally' from a doorway'for pivotally suspending adoor for the same by its top, means of constant length for pivotallyconnecting the central portion of said door pivotally to a support onthe rst named means, ad-T of means adapted to travel the opposite sideofsaid doorway, respecting the traveling direction of the first namedmeans, adjacent the level of the top of said door, means for moving therst named means away from said doorway and other means for applying liftto said 4door below its top.

4. The combination of laterally spaced tracks I

